Durham, NC

November 2013

Justin Meddis got his culinary start working in a New Jersey deli. From there, he pursued a culinary degree in earnest—moving from slicing meats to mastering them and developing a passion for whole animal butchery. Lucky for Justin, that path led him a sous chef role at Cypress, where he further honed his sills and met his wife and future business partner, Katie.

While Katie (who also worked as a butcher) continued to build skills on the pastry side of things, Justin’s passions were spurred by his work with butchery. So the duo moved together to San Francisco, where Justin became the executive sous chef at Ame, and later, Nojo, where he was both a chef and part of the opening management team. He also continued to ply his knife skills at Avedano’s Butcher Shop & Market. Meanwhile, taking some time for life itself, the culinary duo made a quick trip back to Justin’s native Jersey Shore, to get married among East Coast friends and family.

Neither Northeast nor Northwest were a final destination for Justin and Katie. Marrying his increasing talents with ideals, Justin and Katie moved to North Carolina to open Rose’s Meat Market and Sweet Shop in the thriving farm and food community of Durham, North Carolina in June 2013—all after an imaginative Kickstarter campaign that exceeded the couple’s goal. Not only does the shared shop allow Justin and Katie to see each other on a regular basis, it coalesces their ideals, putting local, sustainable ingredients and responsible sourcing at the forefront of an innovative American storefront. In 2013, Meddis earned a StarChefs Rising Star Artisan Award for his work at Rose's.